vendredi 15 juin 2012

Sears ‘open’ to selling assets

Sears Holdings, the retailer controlled by Edward Lampert, is open to selling assets as it works to turn itself around, its chief executive said.

“If there are assets that make sense to be brought in to the portfolio, we are open to that discussion as well,” Lou D’Ambrosio said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

Sears posted first-quarter profit of $189 million last month after spinning off smaller format stores and selling some locations, and following a $3.1 billion loss last year. It also has announced plans to spin off part of its Canada business. The asset sales and declining revenue since Lampert merged Sears and Kmart in 2005 have prompted speculation that he’s in the process of breaking up or liquidating the company.

“If that is the case, nobody has shared that with me,” D’Ambrosio said. “We have an asset-rich portfolio. We are evaluating whether assets are more valuable inside or outside the portfolio.”